1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile telephone unit and a method used in this unit for accessing an Internet site. In particular, the present invention relates to a folding mobile telephone unit that enables the user to capture an HTML (hypertext markup language) file from a Web server, analyze the file, and view the results of the analysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional types of folding mobile telephone unit, the telephone body generally consists of two parts, the body part and the cover part, which are joined together via a hinge mechanism or the like, thereby allowing the body part and the cover part to be folded into one piece.
When this type of folding mobile telephone unit is in use, the cover part is unfolded from the body part; when not in use, the body part and the cover part can be folded into one piece for greater ease of carriage. This type of mobile telephone unit was disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2833964.
Some of folding mobile telephone units as described above have browser functions, which the user can use for capturing an HTML file from a Web server, analyzing the HTML file, and viewing the results of the analysis of the HTML file on the terminal display part.
The aforementioned conventional folding mobile telephone unit has browser functions, which enable the user to analyze an HTML file captured from a Web server and view the results of the analysis of the HTML file on the terminal display part. This unit, however, does not offer the capability to connect to an Internet site or release the connection automatically in synchronization with the unfolding or folding operation of the boxes.
Thus, with the conventional folding mobile telephone unit, connection to an Internet site or release of the connection upon completion of access to an Internet site must be performed by the user with the boxes opened through key operation, based on his or her judgment of the necessity to connect or release the connection. When accessing an Internet site that the user visits frequently, this means that the user must conduct the same access procedure as accessing other sites, which in turn means a lower operability.
The object of the present invention is to provide a mobile telephone unit and a method used in this unit for accessing an Internet site, which can eliminate the above-mentioned problem and reduce the amount of operations requiring user intervention, by performing automatically the operations that are required when accessing a frequently-visited Internet site, such as selecting and determining the site to be accessed, in synchronization with the unfolding or folding operation of the boxes.
According to the first aspect of the invention, a mobile telephone unit including the cover part that can be unfolded or folded freely from or onto the body part and functions for accessing an Internet site, comprises
an open/close detecting means for detecting the unfolding and folding operations of the cover part, and
a controlling means for controlling connection and release of the connection to the Internet site in accordance with the results of detection by the open/close detecting means;
In the preferred construction, the controlling means connects to a pre-specified Internet site upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from close to open by the open/close detecting means.
In another preferred construction, the controlling means releases the connection to the Internet site to which the mobile telephone unit is connected upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from open to close by the open/close detecting means.
In another preferred construction, the controlling means connects to a pre-specified Internet site if the open/close detecting means detects a change in the state of the cover part from close to open, and releases the connection to the Internet site to which the mobile telephone unit is presently connected upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from open to close by the open/close detecting means.
According to the second aspect of the invention, a method for accessing an Internet site for use in a mobile telephone unit including a cover part that can be unfolded or folded freely from or onto the body part and functions for accessing Internet sites, comprising the steps of
detecting the unfolding and folding operations of the cover part, and
controlling connection and release of the connection to the Internet site in accordance with the results of the detection.
In the preferred construction, the step of controlling connection and release of the connection connects to a pre-specified Internet site upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from close to open.
In another preferred construction, the step of controlling connection and release of the connection releases the connection to the Internet site to which the mobile telephone unit is presently connected upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from open to close.
In another preferred construction, the step of controlling connection and release of the connection
connects to a pre-specified Internet site upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from close to open, and
releases the connection to the Internet site to which the mobile telephone unit is presently connected upon detection of a change in the state of the cover part from open to close.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer readable memory storing an Internet site access control program for use in a mobile telephone unit including a cover part that can be unfolded or folded freely from or onto the body part and functions for accessing Internet sites, wherein
the Internet site access control program, comprising the steps of
detecting the unfolding and folding operations of the cover part, and
controlling connection and release of the connection to the Internet site in accordance with the results of the detection.
In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a folding mobile telephone unit having browser functions for capturing an HTML file on the server, analyzing the captured HTML file, and displaying the results of the analysis of the HTML file on the terminal display part, with the capability to automatically connect to a pre-specified Internet site or release the connection in synchronization with the unfolding or folding operation of the boxes.
More specifically, a mobile telephone unit according to the present invention reduces the amount of operations that the user is required to perform when connecting to an Internet site, by allowing the user to specify the URL of an Internet site that he or she will access frequently, accessing automatically such Internet site upon the unfolding of the boxes, and disconnecting automatically from such Internet site upon the folding of the boxes.
Thus, it will become possible to reduce the amount of operations requiring user intervention, because the user can access the Internet site that he or she accesses frequently using the mobile telephone simply by unfolding the boxes, and release the connection simply by folding the boxes. Furthermore, since access to an Internet site or release of the connection are conducted automatically simply by unfolding or folding the boxes, the user will be freed from the key pressing operation for connection or release of the connection.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the detailed description given herebelow.